This author has documented the current civil war between six of the Bossier City Council members and Bossier Mayor Tommy Chandler in several articles and columns. The battle continues on two fronts in the special elections on Oct. 9. It’s the old guard versus the new guard.
The first is to fill the unexpired term for Bossier Council District 1. This is the seat vacated when Shane Cheatham declined to take office in hopes of being named the Chief Administrative Officer of Bossier City. The Montgomery council cabal placed former council member Scott Irwin in that slot.
This race has three candidates: Darren Ashley, Brian Hammonds and Mike Lombardino. Hammonds is supported by the Cheatham coalition and Lombardino by the Montgomery clan. This race could end up in a runoff, depending on the votes Ashley pulls.
The other is for the unexpired term of Bump Skaggs for District 5 of the Bossier Parish Police Jury. Skaggs resigned for a career move that made it necessary to step aside from the jury.
Julianna Parks, wife of Bossier City Judge Santi Parks, was named by the police jury to fill this seat on an interim basis until the election. Julianna is a partner in a Shreveport law firm that is paid $20,000 a month by Bossier Sheriff Julian Wittington. She is supported by the Montgomery old guard.
Windy Wardlaw is also vying for this seat. She applied unsuccessfully to be named as the interim appointee. Wardlaw, who is a very successful Bossier relator, is supported by the Bossier new guard.
Bossier City (the new “City of No”) and Bossier Parish rarely have hotly contest elections due to well established backroom political players. It’s refreshing to see democracy at work in a public arena in these two elections which involve much more than the candidates themselves.